RJD2 brings democracy to the people with fan-created B-side contest

If there’s one musician’s name that is synonymous with the phrase “Democracy in Action,”* it must surely be Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen er, RJD2. The talented producer/instrumentalist just released Inversions of the Colossus, an album of B-sides and instrumentals on his own RJ’s Electrical Connections label, a companion album to The Colossus (TMT Review) from earlier this year. And now, fans have the chance to use the free remixing software available here and do a number on RJ’s track “The Glow.” One and only one lucky fan will reap all the fame, champagne, and glory that comes with the honor of having your winning remix included with a Flosstradamus remix as the B-sides to the as-yet-unreleased digital single.

Also in RJD2 news, you can now pick up free tracks from Inversions of the Colossus on dude’s MySpace page, including a hip-hop remix of Bassnectar’s “Son’s Cycle” and a bootyshakin’ remix of Candy Panther’s “The Glow,” which is coincidentally also the track featured in the remix competition.

* Okay, so looking back on this I see that it’s not TECHNICALLY democracy as the fans are not also doing the voting. But you know what I mean, right, like about how anyone can participate? Right? Riiiiight?

J. Tillman is many things. He drums for Fleet Foxes, and in his spare time he’s also an accomplished singer/songwriter. He isn’t, however, a frequent bather. I guess it’s hard to blame the guy, especially with locks that are this unruly. Still, your mane would be much easier to manage, J., if you would just condition every once in awhile! Come on, man! Instead of getting in touch with his Herbal Essences, Tillman will release a new album on September 14, entitled Singing Ax. Due out on Western Vinyl, the album was recorded by some guy named Steve Albini at some place called Electrical Audio in Chicago. You can catch Tillman and his luscious locks on the road for the rest of the summer:

A real bottomless pit is kind of a ripoff. You know it’s not bottomless, that it’s just a really deep hole some hillbilly huckster dug to make a few bucks, and you’re really just paying to see how laughable it can be. Chicago indie-lifers (half of them used to be in Silkworm, don’t you know) Bottomless Pit, on the other hand, would never rip you off. Their supremely precise post-punk is about the best deal on the market for that kind of thing, but they haven’t been doing a whole lot of business lately, as they’ve had no new releases since 2008’s Congress EP and no new full-lengths since their debut Hammer of the Gods (TMT Review) from 2007. That silence will end August 10, when they debut their sophomore LP Blood Under the Bridge courtesy of Comedy Minus One.

With a title like Blood Under the Bridge, you can expect some serious pep from these Bottomless Pit guys. The band’s description of the album supports such a high expectation, as the “album explores the awful and thrilling randomness of fate, with a hard fix on the future.” Gosh, sounds like someone’s making a serious bid to soundtrack all your late summer barbecues! Bottomless Pit will also be embarking on a short tour in November, with Black Helicopter opening all dates.

Songwriter Margaret Ann Rich, widow of country star Charlie Rich, has died aged 76 following a battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Several of Margaret Ann Rich’s songs were recorded by other artists, including her best-known composition, “Life’s Little Ups and Downs,” which made No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart in January 1991 when recorded by Ricky van Shelton (Columbia). The song was originally published as “Life Has Its Little Ups and Downs” and published by Make A Million/BMI. Other artists to record her songs included Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge (“A Part of Your Life”) and Tom Jones (“Field of Yellow Yellow Daisies”).

Ladies and gentlemen, you heard it here first (maybe… it depends on where you get your news): Blonde Redhead are taking to the highways, the country roads, and, um, some other kind of road this fall in an epic tour across the mighty lands of the US and Canada to rep their upcoming album, Penny Sparkle. Slated for a September 14 release on 4AD, the new album was produced by audio wunderkinds Van Rivers and The Subliminal Kid (Fever Ray, Massive Attack). Hear a track from it over at the Chocolate Grinder — do it! You can also catch Blonde Redhead at a venue near you (maybe… it depends on where you live. Sorry Idaho!) with Rough Trade artist Pantha Du Prince opening for the first part of the tour.

You’ve probably made up a few band names in your life. There’s the inane conversation everybody’s had of animal band inventions (“You ever heard of Jaguars Go to Malls in Hartford? Yeah, they’re playing tomorrow.”). Then there’s the even more generally odious conversation involving convincing some poor kid that you like a pretend band with the most ridiculous name possible. Sean Ono Lennon is now in one of those bands: The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger. For real.

Abbreviated as GOASTT, the band consists of Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl, and their debut album Acoustic Sessions is coming out October 26. The album is technically a homemade deal, recorded and mixed in their living room — kind of like all those DIY bedroom groups sprouting up around Jersey and everywhere else. Except those groups don’t have John Lennon and Yoko Ono as parents. Kemp Muhl also has a sort of interesting back story, but one relatively more formulaic than Sean’s (military family, teenage model). Despite Sean’s less-than-humble beginnings, GOASTT is releasing the album on the duo’s own record label, Chimera Music (whose other artists in its short history include The Plastic Yoko Ono Band and Yoko Ono — maybe not so humble).

Listen to the very 60s single “Jardin du Luxembourg” here at the Chocolate Grinder, produced by Mark Ronson and released July 6. Otherwise, their songs are (according to the press release, which is just too good not to quote) “like Dali’s imaginary landscapes: lavender roads, oil slicks radiating rainbows, ballerinas tipping off tightropes, sweating snowmen, black and white films beamed from the future, Schroedinger’s cat meets Pavlov’s dog…” That gives you a good idea, right? (Oh wait, it’s just the tracklisting paraphrased.)